1888 Dallas

This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style only. Color information is unknown and the uniform is rendered in values of gray. Minor details may also be undocumented or difficult to determine and an educated guess is made to complete the rendering.

Rendering accuracy:Year: documented    Team: documented

Visual documentation on this uniform:

Photo A

Dated early July 1888 to October 1888. Year of photo confirmed by the appearance of players Levis, Sunday, Fahey, Wentz, Whitaker, O’Rourke, Hemp and Peeples. All of these men only played for Dallas in 1888. Date range of early July 1888 to October 1888 determined by player Sunday, who was released by his former team, Ft. Worth, when that team disbanded on June 28, 1888 and subsequently signed by Dallas by July 11, 1888. Players wore a uniform in this photo that was mid-tone in color, possibly middle gray. The short-sleeved shirts had dark-colored lace ties, dark lettering and dark belts. The stockings may have been the same dark color or a slightly lighter color. The pillbox cap, shown in the foreground, was also dark in color with subtle, thin horizontal bands.

Top row, from left: C Levis (88), A Sunday (Dal 88, FtW TxL 88), H Fahey (Dal 88, Gal TxL 88), J Wentz (88) and J Fogarty (88, 89). Middle: P Whitaker (Dal 88, Bal AA 88), D Crothers (88, 89, 92) and T O’Rourke (88). Front: D Hemp (88) and W Peeples (88). Player IDs from photo. Additional input on player IDs from Chuck McGill. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Sunday release info from the New Orleans Times-Picayune, June 29, 1888. Sunday signing info from the New Orleans Times-Picayune, July 12, 1888. Sunday research from Ed Morton. Image scan from reddit.com.

Dated early July 1888 to October 1888. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed that the lettering on the shirts was large in scale and that the letter forms were slightly irregular, suggesting the letters were cut by hand. The shirt had a breast pocket. The pants had unusually wide belt loops. The player shown at left in this detail view may have worn a white belt.

Written documentation on this uniform:
March 1888: “The new uniforms of the Dallas Base Ball Club have arrived. They consist of maroon shirts, pantaloons and caps and white stockings and belts. The word ‘Dallas’ curves in white letters on the fronts of the shirts.” From the Fort Worth Daily Gazette, March 10, 1888. Research from Don Stokes. Note that this description does not match the uniform in the team photo from this year, see photo A.

Team genealogy: Coming soon